The US surgeon general calls gun violence a national public health crisis.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory on Tuesday saying that gun-related violence and its immediate psychological impact on victims and bystanders have seriously endangered public health.
“Today, for the first time in the history of our office, I am issuing a Surgeon General's Advisory on gun violence,” Murthy said in a video announcement. “It outlines the urgent threat that gun violence poses to the health and well-being of our country.”
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US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy published a special advisory on gun violence on Tuesday, calling incidents involving firearms a public health crisis. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
“As a physician, I have seen first-hand the effects of gun violence, as well as the lives of the patients cared for over the years,” the surgeon general continued. “These are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, all robbed of their physical and mental health by senseless acts of violence.”
The advisory states that 54% of adults in America have experienced a firearm-related incident. These experiences with gun violence include individuals who have been threatened with a firearm (21%), lost a family member in a gun-related death (19%), witnessed a shooting (17%), and been injured by a firearm (4 ). %).
The 54% figure also includes adults who fired a gun in self-defense (4%). The gun-related death statistic includes those who committed suicide with a firearm.
The report notes that different demographic groups are affected differently by gun violence.
Black individuals suffer the highest rate of gun deaths. American Indians, Alaska Natives, older white people, and military veterans are at the greatest risk for suicide by firearm.
“In addition to the precious lives lost to gun violence, there are also greater consequences for the injured, the people who witnessed the incidents, who live in urban and rural communities where such violence occurs and who read and hear about gun violence all the time,” said Murthy.
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Murthy wrote in the report that the direct casualties of gun violence are compounded by the psychological impact on victims and bystanders. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
He added: “The collective trauma and fear that Americans experience contribute to the mental health challenges we face today. Nearly six in 10 American adults say they worry that a loved one becomes a victim of gun violence.”
The public advisory on gun-related violence is the first document of its kind released by the Surgeon General's Office.
